Gauntlet Announced, Heading to PC and Steam OS

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today the return of the classic franchise Gauntlet, heading to PCs later this year. Hidden alongside the Gauntlet announcement, though, were a couple interesting tidbits worth plucking out.

Gauntlet, according to the press release, “will be available this summer via Steam for PC, offering full support for SteamOS and the upcoming Steam Machines shipping the second half of this year.” Gauntlet is far from the first game heading to SteamOS, but it’s one of the very few that isn’t an indie game or a Valve-developed game. Gauntlet is one of the first games with some kind of corporate backing heading to the OS.

Better yet, the dungeon-crawler reboot is part of an initiative by Warner Bros. Interactive that they’re calling the WB Games Vault. Games Vault is a “direct to digital portfolio that will deliver paid games based on popular Warner Bros. and Midway brands, plus original IP, across multiple digital networks.”

If Gauntlet does well, Games Vault could be a source of some interesting reboots and even fresh games. WB’s decision to go entirely digital is interesting and the support of Steam OS even more so.

The game itself looks to adhere more closely to the original Gauntlet formula than some of the other titles over the years, like Gauntlet Dark Legacy and Gauntlet Legends, and sports a look reminiscent of Diablo III.

The game, being developed by Arrowhead Game Studios, sports the standard classes – Warrior, Wizard, Valkyrie and Elf. The last one is almost funny after playing South Park: The Stick of Truth last week. Gameplay is set in randomly generated dungeons, and each character has its own special feature.

We were able to confirm with a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Interactive that Gauntlet will support both local and online multiplayer.